A Pennsylvania man was sentenced Monday after taking a plea deal for killing a teen boy in a hit-and-run incident last year.
James Shulski, 36, received a sentence of 2.5 to 5 years in state prison for the death of Harlem Dennis after he accepted a plea deal in September.
The deal involved admitting guilt to violating “stop-and-render-aid” laws and a lesser felony charge related to accidents causing death or personal injury. Prosecutors reduced the charge from felony 2 to felony 3 as part of the agreement.
The plea deal also halved his prison sentence,according to the Courier Times.
During Monday’s hearing, Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Finley emphasized to Shulski that the plea agreement did not change the fact that he abandoned a child to die.
“There’s nothing that will bring Harlem back, nothing that would take this hole out of my children and my hearts,” Terandace Dennis, the victim’s mother, said in an interview with the Courier Times following Shulski’s sentencing.
“But I would like to see this man be away from his family like Harlem is away from his,” she added.
Before sentencing, Shulski’s attorney, Paul Lang, read a letter of apology to the Dennis family, expressing Shulski’s “deep regrets” for the “terrible actions” he took on July 2023 when he struck and killed Dennis as the boy crossed a street in Bensalem.
Shulski reportedly expressed remorse for leaving the scene and promised to find a way to make amends with the Dennis family. However, Terandace Dennis believes he cannot provide what they truly want.
“I can’t help but to think what if the driver stopped and called for help instead of getting out of the car and looking at my 14-year-old son and then getting back in his car and driving off and going about his night,” she said “He left him there like roadkill.”
Two months before the crash, Shulski was arrested on DUI charges in and later convicted, receiving a sentence of 72 hours to six months in jail.
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[Feature Photo: Harlem Dennis/Handout]
